South Lake Tahoe teen hit by vehicle on icy road in Meyers
Submitted by paula on Tue, 03/05/2024 - 2:26pm
This story has been updated with new details:
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A 15-year-old South Lake Tahoe teen was hospitalized on Saturday after getting pinned between a snowbank and a Jeep Wrangler.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) of South Lake Tahoe is still investigating, but the initial report shows they received a call at approximately 4:26 p.m. on March 2, about multiple vehicles in a collision and an injury on an extremely icy road.
They arrived at the scene on Apache Avenue near Mohican Drive above the California Conservation Corps building. The street had been graded so the surface was very icy, with new snow on top. CHP says it was like an ice rink.
The driver of a Jeep Wrangler was traveling up Apache Avenue towards Mohican Drive with two passengers and had to come to a complete stop to avoid a small snow excavator exiting a driveway. Due to the icy conditions, the vehicle struggled to gain traction and the driver decided to back down the road with the intention of stopping against a snow back. It was snowing with poor visibility, and coupled with the icy road, the vehicle stopped higher on the berm than intended.
The driver got out to clear snow from the tires.
At that time, the driver of a GMC Sierra came over the crest of the hill on Apache, saw the situation near the bottom, and stopped. He then put his vehicle in reverse to go back, but the minute he took his foot off the brake the vehicle lost traction and started to slip down the hill aiming for the jeep after hitting a few berms.
The two passengers tried to get out of the way of the pending crash and started running on the icy surface. One made it to safety but the teenage occupant did not and was trapped between the Jeep and the snow.
Both drivers were able to lift the vehicle off the girl. She sustained major injuries and was transported to the hospital by a Lake Valley Fire ambulance.
The teen suffered a hairline fracture in her pelvis and some internal bleeding. She was in Barton's ICU for one night, then spent three days in Renown ICU but has been released and is home recovering.
To following day in the same area, a man was run over by a truck he was trying to push up the icy hill of Mandan near Apache. He was transported to Renown Health in Reno with serious injuries and as of Tuesday, was in the ICU. CHP did not have the current status of the minor and that incident is still under investigation.